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  The old man nodded after Kyaswa relayed the question. “The old women to the sweatshops in Laos. And the men to the gold and copper mines in Hpkant. Those businesses were banned, but they still keep going, only nobody knows because the workers are all slaves.”

  Athena grunted. “Legal employees would have to be registered in order to pay taxes to their localities. Slave labor would have answered that particular problem. So they wouldn’t have shut down completely.”

  Allegra took a deep breath and looked at the old man who began to speak again, Kyaswa relaying his sentences one at a time, “I thank you. My family thanks you. You helped when everyone had gone from the ship. You risked your life to save my daughter. We owe you our lives.”

  The man bowed repeatedly, and Allegra reached out to grasp his hands in hers. “There is no need to thank me. I did what had to be done. We are all here to help each other.” She smiled at the man whose eyes filled with tears again.

  Stepping away, Allegra looked over at Max who’d remained at the doorway, the captain standing at his side, expression shadowed.

  “Max, can we see to it that these people are taken to Indus as they wished?”

  Max nodded. “I suppose Aulus wouldn’t mind if the refugees ended up elsewhere. And I’m sure Sonali would be happy to take them.” As he headed back inside the cabin with the captain in tow, Max called over his shoulder, “Let me make a couple of calls. Then we need to get out of here.”

  Allegra spent a few moments speaking to the gathered families who wished to thank her in person. Though all she wanted to do was to run back inside and hide, disliking the idea of accepting praise in any form, she forced herself to stay with them, just until they were satisfied.

  Chapter 7

  Lord Severus Langcourt smiled at the man who stood before him.

  Unlike Severus’s own nondescript coloring and distinct lack of hair, golden-haired Illaris Von Demme was a perfect example of mortal beauty. And a top scientist, a man who knew physics better than anyone else in history. And this man now stood in Langcourt’s office, ready to extol the virtues of his latest invention—an advanced iteration of a core mechanism that would successfully power Langcourt’s sonic emission device.

  Time had begun to haunt Langcourt, the reflection that met him in his mirror every morning was a constant reminder that he needed Allegra more than ever before.

  He’d taken to the family hideaway on Akída, a small island off the coast of Alkebulan from where he’d been putting both short- and long-term plans in place.

  Now, Langcourt turned to the scientist, folding his arms, biceps bulging. “So, Dr. Von Demme, when can you demonstrate the efficacy of your device?”

  Von Demme stiffened, his affronted scowl implying that the man had expected to be taken at his word. Then his shoulders relaxed, and he forced a smile onto his face. “Of course, Lord Langcourt. I’m available as soon as you have time.”

  Langcourt smiled. Of course, Von Demme would shift his position when money was involved. That was the main reason Langcourt had approached the man. Too many of the best physicists available were already contracted to medical institutes, hospitals and governmental organization making it near impossible for Langcourt to solicit their skills for his project.

  Probably the only reason Von Demme had responded to Langcourt’s communications was the man was out of a job.

  With a firm nod, Langcourt got to his feet. “I will contact you with a time and a location. I will also arrange transportation for you to the site.”

  Von Demme stammered, hesitating before also rising to his feet. “But, I thought...”

  “Oh, I do apologize if I gave you the impression that I would need you to demonstrate immediately. I’m a little tied up right now—appointments for the next few hours—so it’s quite impossible to drag myself away without upsetting a great many people.”

  Von Demme nodded though his dissatisfaction was clear. “It’s quite alright, Langcourt. I’ll be ready when you need me.”

  The door to the hotel room opened, and Roquefort walked in, the sight of the man startling the physicist who shrank away as Langcourt’s assistant neared the desk.

  “Ah, Roquefort. Would you be so kind as to show Doctor Von Demme out? We’ll be seeing much of the Doctor very soon, so please take good care of him.” Langcourt waved the pair away and sat at his desk, pulling the stack of files closer and selecting three of them. He barely looked up as Roquefort led the nervous doctor out.

  The door shut solidly behind them, and Langcourt sat back, heaving a sigh of relief. The interview process had been supremely tedious, more so now that Langcourt had begun to tire easily as age slowly began to catch up to him.

  He tugged open the top drawer of his desk and retrieved a hand-held mirror, using it to study the deep lines on his face, the wrinkles around his eyes, the faintest hint of a cataract in his left eye. His skin had grown papery thin, a smattering of liver spots now covering his hands, and his bones had developed a persistent ache, where every movement had begun to elicit a wince.

  Without the life force of the Pythia, Langcourt would continue to ail. He disliked this dance he performed, this elaborate attempt to entice her to him. But it was a necessary evil, a step in the process that, though painful, was the way to his final success.

  Killing the Pythia Allegra.

  Chapter 8

  A few minutes later when the families had drifted back to their huddles and had left Allegra alone with Athena, Max hurried out of the cabin.

  “We’re good to go. Queen Sonali is only too happy to accept the families we have on board, and the captain has been kind enough to agree to take them over.” Max’s cool smile indicated that the captain had certainly not behaved out of the goodness of his heart.

  Allegra smiled and thanked the man, and was about to enter the cabin to look for something to eat when a shot rang out.

  Spinning on her heel she ducked low, grabbing hold of a young boy who was attempting to peer over the port-side balustrade in the direction from which the shot had originated. Thankfully, no further shots were fired, and after a few tense moments, a man’s voice rang across the bay, his tone filled with authority, impatience, and a touch of anger.

  “What is he saying?” Allegra hissed at Kyaswa, who was sprawled on the deck, legs spread-eagled, puffing away on a newly lit cigarette.

  “He says we are not to move or they will kill us all,” the man replied, smirking around his cigarette.

  Gasps rang out across the deck, and the families huddled even tighter together as the man with the loudspeaker sent out more instructions.

  Kyaswa chuckled again, then added, “He says ‘Hand over the traitors, and I will let the ship leave the harbor safely.’”

  Max had obtained his own loudspeaker and had edged toward the balustrade. He was now opening a dialog with the man on the shore, one which Allegra suspected would end up going nowhere. Which meant the refugees needed to get to safety immediately.

  After a few moments of tense discussion, Max shut off his megaphone and headed toward the ladder to the left of the wheelhouse.

  “Max? What are you doing?” called Allegra, her heart jumping.

  “I have to go over to talk to them.”

  “And what if they don’t let you return alone?”

  “They won’t want to cause an international incident, especially not if they deliberately broke parley.”

  Allegra snorted. “I wasn’t aware this was a battle.”

  Athena got to her feet and headed toward Max. “I’m going with you,” she said firmly.

  Max shook his head and glared at the two women staring at him. “No. I’ll go alone. The last thing I need is to give them more hostages. If things go pear-shaped, you can all still get to safety. Get the refugees out of here.”

  “Max!” Allegra yelled out, but the man hurried to the ladder and swung over the edge.

  Funny how he was endangering himself in much the same way as Allegra had, but thought it
was a perfectly reasonable action to take.

  Max paused on the ladder and met Allegra’s eyes for a moment. “I’ll be fine. Athena, cover me just in case. I’m meeting them on the beach.” He nodded at the small island with its narrow strip of sand a hundred meters behind him. “Not too far, but I want the engines running.”

  Allegra grunted, about to say something nasty, when Athena scuttled off the deck into the wheelhouse. Allegra glared at Max who hung over the side of the ship, his back to the small group of men who were slowly gathering on the beach.

  Military types, red and khaki uniforms, guns at their hips, rifles in their arms at the ready. A portly man held a pair of binoculars to his eyes, and Allegra wondered who he was trying to locate on the ship—Max or the refugees.

  Athena returned moments later with the long weapons-bag. Unzipping it, she held a rifle up to Max, but he shook his head. “Agreement is I go unarmed.”

  “Are you insane? They’re all armed, Max,” Allegra snapped. “Even the big guy has a pistol on his belt. How can you agree to go in unarmed?”

  “Parley, Allegra. I called it in, and I told Major Guri as much. He’s sworn to abide by the agreement.” Max’s jaw tightened, and he began to lower himself down the ladder to the small boat that floated below, tethered to the ladder with a frayed rope.

  “Wait,” called out the father who’d expressed so much appreciation for the saving of his daughter’s life. “I go.” The man motioned with his hands to indicate accompanying Max.

  “No, there is no need.” Max shook his head.

  “Yes…” the man said, nodding vigorously as he made a rowing motion with his arms, then increased the pace to imply getting away fast.

  Max sighed and waved the man forward. As the old man moved past Allegra, she grabbed his arm and pointed a finger at him. “Wait.” She turned on her heel, hurried to the translator and grabbed the hat from the man’s head, then waved at the loosely tied scarf around his neck.

  He lifted an eyebrow, but complied without resistance. When Allegra eyed his cigarette, he removed it from between his lips and handed it over. She gave him a grateful smile and handed all three items to the old man.

  “Put it on. You’re a sailor.”

  Though the man hesitated, he too obeyed, jamming the cap onto his head, pulling the peak low across his brow. He tied the scarf, which reeked of smoke and sweat and gasoline, with no indication of its original color left, then popped the cigarette between his lips.

  Then, without another word, he followed Max down to the boat and proceeded to row them the hundred or so meters over to the shore. Every time the oar hit the water, Allegra’s heart jumped.

  Beside Allegra, Athena loaded her rifle and rested the barrel on the port-side handrail, aimed at the beach. Though tempted to emulate the demigod immediately, Allegra had one thing to do first.

  Glancing over at the little boat as it neared halfway to the shore, Allegra said, “I have something to do, but I’ll be right back.”

  Despite the arch look Athena responded with, Allegra didn’t clarify. She duck-walked over to the door to the ship as fast as she could, and from the threshold she beckoned the three families, urgently motioning for them to go inside while also holding a finger to her lips. They obeyed, crawling toward her despite the expressions of fear on their faces.

  “Poor people. They’re terrified of going back inside a ship. Not that I blame them. I’m not too thrilled myself,” Allegra said to Athena as she watched over them.

  Athena grunted from her spot a meter away from the door. “I don’t blame any one of you. But getting them to safety is the smartest option right now. Who knows where this will end.”

  Allegra slipped inside the narrow corridor to find Alrait rushing over to the group, waving his arms in an attempt to herd them down into the hold but some of the women, as well as both the girls Allegra had saved, began to cry, shaking with terror.

  Allegra waved over to the man. “Leave them. Is there someplace up above where we can keep them for a short while?”

  Captain Alrait shook his head, his eyes flashing as he glared at Allegra. “There is only my private cabin, and the boardroom. They have to—”

  Allegra lifted a hand. “Thank you, captain. I’ll have one family use your quarters, and the other two can use the boardroom. Once we’re out of the harbor, we can relocate them.”

  With that she turned and motioned for the family with the three small children to follow her, glancing over at Athena and jerking her chin at the other two families. A mere minute later, Allegra had returned from setting the family up in the captain’s cabin, and the rest of the refugees had been set up in the tiny boardroom having tipped the table up and set it against the wall to open up a bit more floor space for ten people.

  Allegra made her way back outside and met Athena beside the handrail where the demigod watched the boat reaching the shore. Allegra reached for the bag, grabbed a rifle, prepped and checked it, ignoring Athena’s sideways glance. She didn’t care if the demigod approved or not.

  The more cover Max had, the higher the chances of him escaping the parley with his sorry neck intact.

  Chapter 9

  With her barrel positioned on the handrail, Allegra sighted Max as he approached the major, and watched as the two spoke. The major stood straight-backed, his features hard and shadowed by the darkness. A few soldiers held torches which threw undulating light and shadows into the occupants of the beach, making it difficult for Allegra to read what was going on.

  The ten minutes of discussion that ensued felt like eons ticking by one second at a time and Allegra crouched, barely conscious of the strain on her thighs.

  “It doesn’t look good,” she murmured to Athena, watching the line of Max’s spine as he spoke to the Mranma representative.

  “What makes you think that? We really shouldn’t be presuming the worst,” Athena replied, doing nothing to hide her ironic smirk.

  Allegra snorted. “I know Max. And I am only reading it as I see it. I would much rather presume the worst and be prepared, than be light-hearted and positive only to get killed in the process.”

  “Allegra?” said Athena, her tone low and even.

  “Yes, Athena?” Allegra replied without taking her eyes off of Max as he took a step back, indicating their parley had come to an end.

  “I was being facetious,” the demigod replied, chuckling softly.

  Allegra flicked her a brief glance. “Oh, I see,” she replied, eyes already on the beach. Then Allegra stiffened, training her rifle on the shoreline. As she sighted the armed soldiers who watched Max climb into his boat, Allegra flipped the safety off, relieved to hear Athena’s own click of preparation.

  From the corner of her vision, she saw the old man begin to row the boat back to the Yakshi, but something turned over in Allegra’s stomach as she watched the soldiers, as the general motioned to his men, as the two closest to the shore drew their rifles to their shoulders.

  “Athena?”

  “Yes, my lady?”

  “Maim, not kill, okay?”

  Athena grunted in reply.

  Max was fifty meters from the shore when the first soldier’s finger began to squeeze his trigger. Awareness sharpened and Allegra felt each second sift by as though time had slowed. She took aim, and tapped her trigger just as the sniper pulled his. Both shots echoed simultaneously, so in tandem that it would have appeared as though only one shot had been fired.

  “Well done,” muttered Athena grudgingly as the two women watched the soldier who was now staring at his empty hands in shock, face crumpling in a warped combination of shock and embarrassment.

  For a few seconds, silence reigned as the gathered troops on the shore turned to stare at the rifle which now lay four feet from the sniper.

  Then the major yelled out, and the soldiers burst into motion, scattering into the underbrush. Max had grabbed an oar and was helping to row, the little boat increasing in speed and drawing closer to safety, only now
angling toward the ship’s bow.

  “He’s going around. Lay down cover fire.” Athena called out instructions even though only the two women were bothered to do anything.

  “Captain Alrait,” yelled Allegra as the first of the shots were fired from the trees beyond the beach, thankfully falling short of Max’s boat. The man merely grunted in reply, which stirred Allegra’s fury. “Can you get this boat moving? And we could use some help here to cover the Commander!” she called as she peppered the beach in front of the tree-line with a hail of bullets.

  “I’m sorry, my lady. My men would rather not fire on Mranman soldiers. We will never be able to work in these waters again.” Alrait’s tone was half amused, half cold, as though the sight of two women firing on a troop of trained soldiers was a funny sight to behold.

  “Captain, please understand that you are, this minute, making a choice. A life-sentence for deliberately endangering the life of a high-ranking NGS official or a substantial reward for helping us free these refugees and for ensuring the safety of that high-ranking NGS official.”

  The demigod growled. “Or how about a death sentence for you and your crew if the Pythia dies in the firefight?” yelled Athena, impatience almost palpable as her voice cracked on the last word.

  Although Allegra did register the Yakshi’s engines firing and the vessel beginning to edge forward slowly, she didn’t look behind her to see if the captain had complied with helping them cover Max’s escape. She was too busy taking aim at a soldier who rolled a heavy machine-gun into a clearing in the trees.

  The soldier had barely set the weapon down when Allegra fired, the bullet slamming into the man’s palm as he reached for the trigger. Allegra’s bullet then penetrated the trigger mechanism, jamming the weapon.

  A situation that became very clear as a second soldier closed in to take over. He turned the heavy barrel toward the ship, and then began to struggle with the trigger.